


What Happens on Nar Shaddaa Stays on Nar Shaddaa

by Ihsan997



Series: The Self-Doubting Color-Neutral Side of the Force [3]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Play, Bad Dirty Talk, Exploitation, F/M, Face-Sitting, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Implied Sexual Content, Lime, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Smut, Minor Original Character(s), Nar Shaddaa, Original Character(s), Poverty, Repaying Debt, Rimming, Sex Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-03-10 06:53:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13497002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ihsan997/pseuds/Ihsan997
Summary: Part limey smut, part sincere fluff, and a dash of self-righteousness thrown together with whipped cream on top. A shamelessly self-indulgent tale of a weekend in Hutt Space.





	1. What Happens on Nar Shaddaa...

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place some time during 3640 BBY, though time isn’t critical since this occurs outside the normal game story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marko the Hutt works hard for the money, but he needs someone unconnected to his network to eliminate someone connected to it. His request received an unexpected taker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told from the perspective of an original Hutt character in an original location. Who says I have to stick to the in-game storyline?

“They have three minutes.”

In the atrium of the spaceport waited the welcoming party. Flanked by his Gamorran retainers, a single impatient Hutt checked his timepiece again as they waited. Squinting his left eye over his magnifying monacle, he scanned the crowd of new arrivals exiting a shuttle from behind two separate walls of the building. He had a feeling that his guests had arrived, but it was hard to tell given the thick crowds of people from all over the galaxy arriving at the less-frequented spaceport on the far end of the planet. Traffic was unusually heavy, and at the least convenient time.

“There, sir,” oinked one of his piggish protectors.

Squinting once more, the Hutt saw a group which was unmistakeably the answer to his call. Noticeably lacking the swagger of the various mercenaries, Republic personnel, and other off-worlders who frequented his realm, the dozen or so Imperial citizens almost went unnoticed as they approached. When the group’s masked leader actually submitted to a pat down by the Gamorrans, the Hutt’s eyes widened almost enough for him to lose his monacle.

Skipping any sort of pleasantries, the Sith draped in black nodded toward the host. “Marko the Hutt, I presume?”

The Hutt host was surprised by the lack of pomp of the unpresumptuous group of Imperials. Whether it was an act or a sincere display, he did not know, and he maintained his distance.

“You speak correctly, Imperial. You are...Darth Xuvas. A representative of the Sith Sphere of Philosophy.”

“You’re a sentient who does his homework,” the pureblood responded without pause.

Good - he wasn’t one for wasting time. Marko was pleased, but suppressed the emotion quickly to keep the upper hand. He enjoyed getting straight to business, but he wouldn’t grant the strangers the benefit of knowing how he felt.

Moving straight to business as well, Marko motioned for the group to follow him as he traveled toward his shuttle bus using his hoversled. “More than you might realize. But I still wonder...the Empire was courteous to accept my call when the Republic refused involvement, but why one of your specialty?”

Leaving his own underlings behind them, the Sith walked side by side as Marko hovered. “The nature of your request is quite relevant to what I do, actually. It’s my job to ensure, on behalf of Lord Aruk, that the galaxy understands the beneficence of the Empire in light of Republic grandstanding.”

Knowing that the Sith’s power couldn’t affect him and that his personal snipers were posted nearby at all times, Marko tried to push the pureblood’s boundaries. “Cut the shit, Imperial; I’ve asked for off-world help breaching my archenemy’s compound and killing him without subtlety. What do you get out of this other than plunder of his coffers?”

Surprising the Hutt again, the one known as Darth Xuvas laughed warmly. “Trust me, there is more than that, but it’s as I told you. The Republic has a tendency to portray us as domineers, with which I believe the Chiss Ascendancy would respectfully disagree. I intend to show your planet that the Republic is wrong, and that autonomy can be retained even while working with us.” He paused for a moment before turning and looking at the Hutt. His yellow eyes beneath the mask appeared sincere. “Just as you want to deliver a message to your enemies, so do I.”

Though Marko thought little of the man personally, he didn’t doubt the Sith’s sincerity due to circumstance; if the Empire wanted to deliver a propaganda message, then it was a decent opportunity. Marko turned away when Xuvas did and looked back toward the exit of the spaceport.

“Very well. Mutually beneficial transactions do exist, however rare.” They passed by a handful of civilians wearing Republic tunics. None of the Imperial visitors made any sudden movements, but Marko made sure to assert himself one last time. “Be sure that your soldiers know that we make the rules here; not them. You’ve been hired for an attack at a private compound, but in public, none of them are to enflame sentiments between the two factions. Picking a side is a decision above my status.”

“Your instructions will be followed to the letter.”

Marko squinted even as he continued staring forward, out the door and toward his waiting shuttle bus. This was far too easy. He wouldn’t be so easily fooled.

“I thank you for your acknowledgment of your responsibility while you’re here. Whatever conflicts, hierarchies, or even social mores you might hold on your own worlds are temporarily suspended while you’re here. Think of yourselves as in a vacuum.” The entire group reached the shuttle, and Marko brought Xuvas into the front chamber of the shuttle separate from all the other visitors save one of the man’s followers, who wasn’t currently armed anyway. They had more to discuss, but only after the most important rule was made clear.

“What happens on Nar Shaddaa stays on Nar Shaddaa.”


	2. Sudden Attraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When someone switches behavior abruptly, trust your intuition.
> 
> Lime alert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Star Wars.

The lights of all the casinos and bars lit up the sky on a less traveled end of Nar Shaddaa that night. Celebrations were the norm on any night with or without justification, and the polluted brown skies were set ablaze with fireworks which adversely reacted with all the chemical fumes in the planet’s atmosphere. In one empty hallway of a quieter hotel, the colored lights shined in through the wide, ceiling-to-floor windows and revealed the lonesome corridor for a few brief seconds. Then, after the fireworks, the hall was dark and quiet again.

Undecorated automatic doors silently opened at one end, allowing a single dark figure to enter. Draped in black and walking slowly, he took his time feeling his way to the door by running his hand along the wall. A weary voice initiated a retina scan to open the door to the executive suite and he walked in.

The Sith warrior known as Darth Xuvas left his cloak at the door, running through a gauntlet of security procedures before storing his armor in an anteroom locker. Donning a bathrobe over his underwear, he sighed after a hard day’s work and walked toward the kitchen of his lonely suite before coming to a sharp halt.

The lights were on. And so was his juicer.

Mentally kicking himself for not having noticed the sizeable presence in the Force previously, he balled up his fists and stormed into his kitchen only to find the nonchalant figure of one of his crew members.

“Hyala?” he asked while watching her curvy figure beneath one of his suite’s dark green bathrobes.

Casual and playing innocent to the tee, his sister’s best friend couldn’t hide her similarly passive-aggressive behavior, and she took her time using his suite’s kitchen appliances before turning to respond. Black dreadlocks flowed around her shoulders as she turned, revealing one round, ruby red cheek as she looked over her shoulder.

“Oh, nice to see you, Hadru,” she replied with mock innocence, though the fact that she used his birth name betrayed the bat of her eyelashes. “This is much better than the juicer they put in my room.”

He remained standing at the kitchen door, confused by the uncharacteristic intrusion from a woman who generally wanted nothing to do with him when they were off duty. He played it defensive. “First of all, you know that referring to a Sith warrior by birth name violates protocol,” he said to her mildly dismissive laugh. “Secondly, I’m a little concerned for our safety from possible Republic assassins if you were able to break in here.”

Giving him her round, dimpled cheek over her shoulder again, she stared at him with a smile which bore both sincere amusement as well as her typical condescension. It was the smile of a person who thought she was smarter than everybody else, yet was too dense and unsubtle to hide that fact. That smile, and that gaze, lingered for too long, and he became suspicious of what she was doing in his room.

“There was no breakin, Lord Hadru,” she said through an ever-widening smile that was somehow endearing and infuriating simultaneously. “The security software allowed me in so I could inspect your suite for bomb threats personally.”

Folding his arms, he remained upright and fought the urge to lean against the door frame and just stare back into those annoyingly pretty eyes. “I’ve never known you to be a mooch; it’s unlike you to live off of someone else.”

Although he could see in the way her eyes narrowed for a microsecond that he’d successfully angered her, she held back and continued playing dumb. “Oh come now, Hadru. All of our rooms are complementary from our host anyway; you’re not really losing anything by letting me serve you.” Her lips pursed ever so slightly before she turned back to the juicer. “Come on, you might as well try a little of this mix I’ve tried. There’s enough for two.”

Too strong in the Force to expose herself, she was able to hide her motive for more or less breaking in to his hotel suite. For all his life, he’d known her as the flippant, discourteous frenemy of his older sister. There was something off about her sudden politeness, the way her smile was both condescending and playful instead of just condescending. Yet she evaded his attempt to figure out as she just stood there pouring drinks, leaning languidly against the counter as if she were either taunting him with her presence or legitimately trying to attract his attention.

When he didn’t answer immediately, she finished pouring their drinks, absentmindedly bending over the counter to clear it off of the imported fruit peelings. The bathrobe draped over her prominent backside revealed that she wasn’t wearing anything else beneath the imitation silk garment. For how long had she been there?

Turning around with a latently mischievous smile that put him on the defensive, she actually began to approach him, and he considered whether he should move aside, run away, or...join her.

How did that possibility enter his thoughts?

She intercepted him at the kitchen door, cocking her head back as she stood so closely to him that she couldn’t even hand him one of the glasses anymore. The bathrobe was open all the way down to the barely fastened cloth belt, exposing the soft flesh from her neck to her navel. Her entire visage was a far cry from the uptight upper-class image she usually projected.

Still defensive and confused by the change in her behavior, he hesitated. “What did you put in it?” he asked.

For many years, he’d grown up hearing her laugh. As a child, that laugh was usually vile and always aimed at another person. It was the laugh of someone who viewed anyone outside her circle of friends as a source of entertainment. This time, however, it was different. If he weren’t mistaken, there was almost a measure of warmth to it, as if...as if she were laughing with another sentient being instead of laughing at them.

Her eyes narrowed again, and she flashed him a bit of teeth in an unreadable smile. “Poison. You know, to kill you,” she said, unable to stifle another laugh. She paused again, which was confusing the hell out of him, and kept looking down at his neck. “Please, Hadru. I made enough for two. My feelings will be hurt if you won’t try it.”

She didn’t react when he felt himself visibly wince. “You have feelings?” he let slip without thinking. His eyes widened at his own statement as he realized he’d poked the tigress with a stick.

Shocking him again, she laughed louder, scrunching up her nose and leaning back until one of her thighs became exposed from her robe. Instead of picking a fight as he’d expected, she looked up at him, those pretty eyes looking up at him with very little hidden. There was a sparkle to them which she’d never shown him before, and her thick upper lip pursed as she stifled another laugh.

“Hadru, I’m being nice. We’re grown ups now.” Stepping forward so closely that she was almost pressed up against him, she pushed one of the drinks forward and let her fingers rest against the top of his abs. “It’s non-alcoholic, just how you like it.”

He wouldn’t be able to sort out his thoughts until he could move away, so he reached for the drink. She didn’t let go at first, leaving him to grip her hand as she rested it against him. “I’m still not comfortable with anyone entering my room. But...thank you for the drink.” She didn’t hand it over easily, and she forced him to pull it out of her hand. Her fingers held on to it playfully, and he stepped back into the hallway as he tried to figure out her angle.

She had other plans and followed him right out. She clipped his arm with her shoulder, slowly pushing past him in order to walk toward his suite’s sitting room rather than the door. He could feel her breast pressing against his chest through two layers of fake silk, if only for half a second, and a warm sensation rushed downward across his stomach.

“Oh...I think we’ve both earned it after a job well done,” she replied softly as she stepped in front of him.

She walked slowly, forcing him to reduce his usually brusque pace to avoid bumping in to her. She’d taken his complementary hotel slippers for herself, but they were too big for her, and she sort of slid her feet rather than lifted them in proper steps. The robe was pulled tight against the back of her, and he found his eyes glued to the way her buttocks bounced as she moved. He’d never noticed her figure before, or even had the opportunity to see it, and he struggled to reconcile the voluptuous person slowing down even more with the shrew he’d tolerated hanging out at his family’s home when growing up. Pulled so tightly against her butt and lower back, her robe fell loose in the front, so much so that he caught a glimpse of one of her red, muscular calves. The notion of how much was visible on her frontside crossed his mind, and he shook his head in bewildered at how such a thought could have been his.

In his bemused state, he was caught unaware when she spun around and almost saw where he’d been looking. He had a feeling that much of her leg was exposed now, but she was standing too close for him to reasonably look. “Where do you want to sit?” she asked, adding no detail and leaving him to guess at her motives.

Wary and half-expecting her visit to be some sort of prank, he glanced at the chairs and couches in the sitting room for whichever seat allowed him the clearest route to the exit. “I’ll sit...here,” he replied hesitantly, and he wondered why he was even bothering to answer such a weird question. He picked a deep, soft armchair which only had enough space for a single person.

As if she’d read his desire to sit separately, she displayed a measure of her old self once he’d sat down. Before he could even react, and as soon as he was comfortable, her hip was right in his face and her soft feet were stepping on his.

“Hyala, what in the world-“

She silenced him when imitation silk met with imitation silk again, and the outline of her ass cheeks pressed very discernibly onto his lap. Those toned, smooth legs of hers intermingled with his, and her arm was over his shoulder in a single fluid motion. She’d flipped a full 180-degrees from the usual derision she treated him with.

“Hadru, relax; it’s not like we just met,” she said while settling in and letting one large breast lay against his pectoral muscle through their robes. Her face was close to his, too close for any sort of relaxation, and he felt compelled to drop the act.

“Be serious, what are you trying to pull? This isn’t you.”

She mock pouted. “I thought you’d be sensitive to my feelings,” she said softly, with a patience to her tone that seemed impossible for her. “We’re in a different star system from Kaas City, far from all the baggage of home. Don’t I deserve to unwind away from all that? Don’t you?”

“Yes, but...” He stopped himself and watched how those luscious lips didn’t stop smiling. “Yes, I didn’t mean that you don’t.”

“Then why not unwind together?” she asked while running her fingertips along the back of his thick neck. “Don’t think about the past. Don’t think about the rest of the crew.”

Her calf rubbed against his inner thigh, causing his heart to throb with a desire he couldn’t believe. He instinctively moved a hand down to stop what she was doing and ended up gripping her inner thigh as well. Her legs caused his muscular hand to tense up and squeeze, almost involuntarily, and the way her eyes widened and her lips parted almost made him lose his train of thought. The past she didn’t want him to think about was full of her making fun of him when he was still smaller than her; memories of that brat he’d known was hard to reconcile with the heavily breathing, visibly aroused work of art grinding her most sensitive bits on his body.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” he asked quietly, unable to detect her normal arrogance which he’d come to expect.

When she didn’t speak, he knew her answer. Almond-shaped eyes which had always looked down on him suddenly seemed a little brighter than before. They drifted down toward his mouth, and he knew what she wanted.

He pulled her to him slowly at first, drinking her deep kiss and kindling a fire he hadn’t felt in a long time. She tasted like spices. As if she were the only thing that could quench his thirst after a dry spell, he plundered her lips and slid his hand inside of her robe. Unable to resist this unfamiliar new urge, he took more of her, moving down to kiss the fleshy ridge beneath her jawline while she struggled to stifle a moan.

Liquid poured onto fabric as she spilled her drink and then her whole glass on the floor, panting and seeking a part of him to hold on to. A part of him he’d never known of awoke, relishing the newfound power he held over her and driving him to work his hand beneath her robe more rhythmically. Her legs said no when they squeezed around his wrist, but her hands said yes when they tried to push him lower. A desire to tease her, to toy with her rose up along with his manhood, and what concrete thoughts did manage to form in his mind were strange, impossible images of taming Hyala the shrew. Even when he assaulted her cheek and jawline, it wasn’t enough; he wanted to drive her as mad as she’d driven him for two decades, and to take his revenge for the moments she’d refused to vacate his imagination. He wanted to make her go cross eyed with pleasure, to spank her ass until she begged him to stop (and then stop until she begged him to continue), to make her scream.

When he wrapped his lips around the hollow of her throat, he got what he’d wished for. His ears popped when she hit her highest octave, and she nearly sprained his wrist with how tightly her legs wrapped around it. No longer coherent, she swiped at the air seemingly for an anchor to any sort of cogent thought, but the way she inadvertently dug her fingernails into his skin only spurred his animal instinct even further. More beast than man by her reaction, he feasted on her neck while dipping her down further, taking twenty years worth of vengeance and then some more.

When she lost her voice, he released her, having taken his fill for the first taste (and what a first taste it was). Gasping to the point that he wondered if he’d endangered her, she laid limp in his arms and looked all over the room as if she’d lost her sense of direction. His hands trembled with nervous energy similar to her whole body, leaving him dazed and slumping in the chair and wondering what the hell had possessed him. The first kiss had made him ravenous.

“What...the...” she mumbled, and she almost fell out of his arms and onto the floor.

He lifted her up against him again, letting her fall into his chest to prop herself up. He buried his nose in her hair and made her shiver when he took in her scent for the first time in his life. “I don’t know what got into me,” he breathed onto her scalp, causing her to ineffectively flail again; she didn’t seem prepared for another lustful onslaught yet.

“You’re mad,” she gasped onto his bare chest. He reacted instinctively again, squeezing her thighs and tugging at her robe.

“You made me go mad...I just didn’t know it was in this way...”

Fighting to catch her breath, she couldn’t stop him from pulling her robe open physically. “That’s what lust does to you,” she breathed onto his chest.

Confused but not questioning anymore, he cupped the back of her head and pulled open her covering with his free hand. “Perhaps that’s what love does to you,” he breathed onto her scalp, speaking naturally and without thinking.

Hot and cold...oh how she could change so fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If only...


	3. Ulterior Motives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter flows immediately from the previous one without any time skip. The two halves were separated for reasons of pacing and length.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Star Wars.

Hot and cold...oh how she could change so fast.

Not at first, though. He barely even noticed when her breathing evened out, or when she shifted her neck as if to cock her head up at him. So lost was he that he didn’t quite notice when her emotional wall came up in the form of a deep chuckle in her chest. She shook against him, but too violently for it to be a reaction to what his hands were doing, and the haze which had settled into his mind began to peel away.

Pulling her back to get a good look at her, he found an expression which was all too familiar. Eyes shut tight and hand covering mouth, she convulsed much in the way of a person trying to suppress a hiccup. Not able to hold back, she gave him a blast from the past when her lips parted in a less sultry way. Her laugh was harsh and unkind, leaving no mystery as to what her target was.

Darth Xuvas’ emotions ran wild. He’d truly believed he’d discovered something in her which he’d ignored, and that they’d shared a moment which neither of them had expected. When he heard that same stuck up, arrogant laugh, however, and when he saw that same deamining sneer, he felt his heart rush with an undeserved sense of betrayal. Their mutual arousal was the only thing preventing him from bitch slapping her across the face.

“Oh my Force, Hadru,” she snickered condescendingly into her own hand, “can you please just never say that again?”

She wouldn’t stop laughing at him, killing his mood and his hope that they’d shared a tender minute. “Way to ruin the moment, Hyala,” he sighed, his feelings fluctuating like the wind, whispering to him ideas of tossing her into the hallway and drinking himself to disappointed sleep.

“Me? Hadru, you make me horny beyond belief and then bring this stupid mush?” She finally looked him in the eye and tried to mimic his voice, breaking his resolve enough to make him frown. “Maybe it’s love, har har,” She snickered again. “Shut up and fuck me, seriously.”

He moved her into what little space was next to him on the chair. “No thanks,” he said flippantly without looking at her.

Compounded ignorance almost bestowed a measure of innocence on her as she almost seemed unaware of how nasty she was being. “Come on, don’t be like that. You started this. I mean...love? Really? Who would love you for more than your dick, you have the personality of a block of wood.”

He couldn’t hold back any longer. “Yeah, you’re the expert on being unloved - that’s why you’re thirty-seven years old and never been married!”

For a few seconds, her reaction was delayed, and she continued to chuckle a bit. Second by second, his comment sank in, and she looked up at him with that infuriating innocence, that ignorant innocence of a spoiled brat all grown up who still hadn’t learned how rudely she treated people. Her smile faded, and his words cut deep.

“Well...” she said, clearing her throat and looking up at him robbed of her ferocity. “Touché.”

Emotions were high for both of them, and even when gritting his teeth and remembering the times where she’d made fun of him as a child, he also realized that he’d hurt her.

“Hyala, I’m sorry...that was harsh.”

She sat up and closed her robe, leaning in to him in the closest signal of a peace offering she could likely make. “Don’t be; I guess I was too,” she replied while running her hands through his hair. “It’s easier to say whatever’s in my mind than to think about other people all the time.”

“That’s the frankest statement you’ve ever made.”

This time, his brutal honesty got a very sincere chuckle out of her, one that was almost warm (though not quite). “Really, Hyala. What’s this about? You don’t sleep around and neither do I. You’re not interested in more than a fling. You’re forcing yourself to be nice.”

She rested her head on his shoulder tenderly, smoothing his residual anger away but still confusing him as to her motive. “The last point is connected to the first two...in a way. How can I expl...okay. I read that article you published last Dromund Kaas summer season in the Kaas Ethnographic Review.”

For the second time, he was shocked enough to speak without thinking, much like her. “You read?!” he asked incredulously.

“Hadru!” she chortled, taking mock offense.

“Like, non-tabloid material? The Review is a serious academic journal. Not even many of my colleagues at the Sith Sphere of Philosophy read it.”

“As surprising as you may find it, I’m not a total airhead. I peruse headlines which relate to the survival of our species. In between brunches and parties, yes, I do have deep thoughts. I care for our people.”

His memory helped him piece together what she wanted. “You’re talking about my projections for the date by which purebloods and humans will become indistinguishable.”

She nodded. “Yes. I still think most of what you do is useless thought exercises, but what you wrote shook me. It shook me because we’re all contributing to it...purebloods are too busy lording over slaves and backstabbing each other to reproduce.”

Shifting so he could look into those pretty eyes, eyes which were suddenly much less annoying in their outer beauty, he tried to guess what she might be thinking. She was deeper than he’d given her credit for, he was realizing. Those pretty yellow gems seemed a bit...sad. Not devastated or depressed, but considering how haughty and self-assured she always looked, the sudden vulnerability she showed made him hurt a little, too.

“Hadru...I’m typical for purebloods of my economic class. I’m petty, conniving, and vicious. I know what I am and what I’m like, just like the rest of my circle of friends. I’m too controlling to cohabitate with anything other than pets and servants, yet I’ve reached my thirty-seventh year and I’ve realized that I’m now part of the problem you wrote about.”

His conscience was pulled apart in both directions, sympathy and revulsion playing tug of war with his mind. “You want to sire a child...but you don’t want to be with me. If you can’t deal with other people, how will you raise an innocent new life all by yourself?”

At that, she smirked, not rudely but as if she found him quaint. “Hadru, my family owns significant shares in most of the road maintenance industry in Dromund Kaas’ Southern Hemisphere. You can ask your sister: I’m exceedingly wealthy. That wealth has spoiled me, made me too independent to ever settle down, but it will also enable me to spoil my children. I can hire the best nannies and medical droids for them, put them in the best schools, set them up with trust funds starting from tomorrow. Most purebloods are raised by house servants and droids anyway; I was, you and your sister were...that’s life.”

“This doesn’t add up, though. You can have this done in a lab. Why me? Why burden me with the knowledge that I’ll pass on my line, but not have a real family?”

“I thought about this. Believe me, I have, and trust me when I say that this is best for both of us. You’re a warrior, Hadru; I’m sorry, but you can’t be a stable father to anyone. That’s the truth. This weekend when we stormed that compound, you almost got hurt. Your armor protected you this time, but that might not always be possible. You fight people for a living, you provide very necessary defense for the Empire, but you’re never actually at home and will probably die early in battle. Outside of an arrangement like this, you’ll never be able to support our species. You’ll also be part of the problem, which is a tragedy, because your sister told me how pure your family’s blood is. Your Force sensitivity is through the roof because of that,”

Her words cut deep, but that was because he knew she was right. His frown seemed to elicit as much sympathy as was possible from a vain creature like her. That sympathy still manifested itself in a decidedly self-centered fashion, though, reminding him of what she was like even in her best of moods.

“Think of me too, Hadru. If I want kids, then I can’t wait anymore. I can’t go to a lab because I don’t want a stranger’s genes in my kids; there would be no guarantee of actual Force sensitivity or basic temperament. I can’t choose a man from my type of people because I want to raise my kids alone and need someone I’ll never see socially; there needs to be that rare combination of a person I know yet not interact with consistently. I can’t find just any man off the street because when my kids grow up, they’ll inquire about their father anyway; they at least need a name they can look up to, if not an actual fatherly presence in their lives.

“So I need someone I know of but don’t deal with directly, is an achiever who won’t actually visit them, has pure blood and a warrior’s prestige to complement my wealth, who at least makes the process of getting knocked up as pleasurable as you can...and who understands that this is about more than just you or me.”

As broad as his shoulders were, he felt as if he was being weighted down. He laughed to himself, avoiding her piercing gaze as she gave him an impatient look. “Many men would jump at the chance for free sex without any strings attached, especially with a specimen like yourself. But...the thought of bringing children into this world without being in their lives is difficult for me. What you’ve planned makes perfect sense...I just...”

She pressed a finger to his lips and rose from his lap. “You’re Sith; feel before you think,” she whispered with a sly grin.

Even when the bathrobe was hanging loosely on her body, she knew how to tug at the right places to let it hang off of her curves. Working it while she turned away and then toward him, she kept his attention on her hourglass figure until the right moment.

“So don’t take too much time to decide...”

The coup de grace came in the form of her robe falling to the floor. Even when shedding her clothes in a single fluid motion, she managed to look classy as she did so, pretending to be coy as her hands ever so incompletely covered her naughty bits. Mesmerized, he couldn’t prevent himself from leaning forward as she swayed her hips on the way toward his bedroom.

“...we don’t have all night.”

His member rose before he did, and her brief tease put him right back in the mood. The way her hip bumped the bedroom door open wasn’t lost on him, and fantasies of pushing her to the brink all over again compelled him to slide out of his own bathrobe and leave it on the chair. He’d make her beg for more soon enough.


	4. A Chance to Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In between adult drama, a Sith warrior finds that he can still be the galaxy’s top bad guy even when helping a kid achieve her dream.
> 
> Obonta is a special OC of mine...not every Star Wars character has to be a violent adventurer. Sometimes a plucky dreamer who never gives up on the world or herself can be just as fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Star Wars.

Having slept very little for the past twelve hours with Hyala occupying his room, Xuvas found himself rolling out of bed around noon and sneaking away - again, out of his own hotel room - to eat something. He was drowsy and had terrible bedhair, hiding himself beneath his cloak like a monk or some weird hermit. His only solace was the fact that, at noon, most of the hotel’s clients were still sleeping off their hangovers.

Inside one of the hotel’s restaurants, he found a place full of tacky decor imitating the upscale eateries on Coruscant that seemed devoid of customers. As much as Xuvas loathed the interior design style of Republic worlds, he really just needed an empty joint far from the casinos and nightclubs where he could get coffee and be left alone. The bored looking Chagrian host had a sad mug that had ‘nobody comes here’ written all over it, and that was good enough for the haggard pureblood.

Inside, he ordered some caffeinated beverage from an Imperial agricultural planet before he’d even sat down and asked for outside seating. He’d been cooped up inside of the noisy Hutt buildings for so long that he just wanted to feel the wind, even if it was a bit polluted.

“Outside these double doors, sir,” the depressed Chagrian said, pointing Xuvas to a wide balcony full of greying plants beneath ruddy skies.

“Thanks.”

Xuvas scanned the area without even really thinking about it, simply searching for the spot least likely to be disturbed. There was a Duro couple seated at the far end of the balcony and what looked like a clown that kept looking at him while leaning against the railing; the Sith chose the furthest corner from them and sat down, looking over the railing to the streets below. Nar Shaddaa was a series of streets and platforms on top of each other, and he had no idea how close to the planet’s contaminated surface the flying hotel even was.

He rubbed a light bruise on his chest...he had to count, but he guessed that Hyala had given it to him during the second time they’d had sex in that twelve hour period, or maybe the third. She’d climaxed while riding him and collapsed onto his chest, accidentally head butting his sternum and hurting them both. He smiled as he remembered, though; it had still been worth it...

“Your drink, sir,” the frumpy Chagrian said while setting down a stained tray with some finger food. “Would you like me to spike it for you?”

Xuvas almost started to eat the weird fruity pastries before the question registered in his head, his mind still on the wild night before. “To what for me?” he asked, unsure of what he’d just heard.

“Would you like me to spike it for you?”

Setting the weird breakfast items aside, the pureblood actually looked up at the unenthusiastic host. “Spike what for me?” he asked.

“Your coffee, sir.”

“What the...you’re asking if I’d like to have alcohol added?”

“Yes.”

“To my coffee?”

“Yes.”

“With breakfast?”

“Yes.”

“At noon?”

“Yes.”

He paused and waited for the laughter, but was only greeted with the Chagrian’s near-suicidal sad face. “You’re being serious?” the pureblood asked incredulously, causing the clown-looking thing to stare again.

“It’s the latest craze,” the host recited with a total lack of motivation, possibly from a memorized script.

Xuvas took a data stick marked with a hundred credits and slipped it into the host’s pocket. “Thanks for the food, you can keep this if I don’t see you again,” he said to the back of the host’s head because the guy was already walking away at ‘keep.’

Alone at last, Xuvas tried to find something, anything, to enjoy in the intensely urban landscape of Nar Shaddaa. At least in Kaas City he could see the swamp and marshland from his high rise apartment’s landing pad. But this place...he found it so difficult to see the beauty in it. The overwhelming colors were acid rain-stained grey and rust-toned brown, as if even the clouds were industrial waste products. A breeze rustled his jet black hair, yet as nice as it felt, he wondered how much carbon dioxide he was inhaling from that wind.

Eventually, the Duro couple left, and the person who looked like a clown started to glance over at him. He could tell the person was going to come bother him, and he groaned while trying to think of the swiftest way to shoot down a sales pitch. The whole planet was full of hucksters and frauds, and the last thing he needed was-

“Hi!”

Well, whoever it was hadn’t wasted her time sneaking over toward him along the railing. And apparently she wasn’t a clown; just a Togruta. She continued to lean over the railing, poorly pretending not to have noticed him. He nodded to her and pretended to be chewing more food and hoped that would be a signal that he didn’t want to buy anything.

After half a minute or so, she turned to watch him nurse the hell out of his coffee. “Nice breeze, huh?” she asked, eyes friendly and sincere but gaze nervously flicking from him to the streets below back to him again. He only nodded again, trying to demonstrate his disinterest without being plainly rude. “The wind is usually hot here. It’s nicer than usual today if you ask me.”

When he didn’t respond, she waited for a few minutes while he ate. He’d hoped that she’d forgotten, but alas, she was only waiting for him to stop chewing. “I wish I could come up here more often. Marko keeps us pretty busy, but this is a nice place to escape all the hustle and bustle.”

Once he realized she was a hotel employee and not a saleswoman, Xuvas relaxed a bit. “Yeah,” he replied tersely.

His one word response apparently spurred her on, though he had no idea what she wanted. “So you’ve seen it down there on the floor, huh? Yeah, it gets crazy, doesn’t it?” Her question was non-rhetorical, and he realized that he’d appear mean if he didn’t answer now. Given that a his primary mission objective was to win hearts and minds for the Empire, he couldn’t risk offending her. His red skin meant that he represented his civilization whether he wanted to or not.

“I suppose it does.”

To his chagrin, she pulled up a chair and sat opposite him at the table, smiling as if she were actually being...sincere, or some other admirable trait that everyone in Hutt Space seemed to lack. Her smile itself was multicolored, as was all of her face, and he was only able to guess that she was a teenager due to her thin physique. She looked too young to be in such a sleazy place.

“I’m Obonta, by the way.” She stuck her hand out in a direct, almost quaint fashion he would never expect from a native of such a shady, dangerous hellhole.

He accepted her small hand warily. “Xuvas,” he replied, resigned to losing a few minutes to the colorful stranger.

“Nice to meet you, mister Xuvas. Where are you visiting from?”

“Dromund Kaas,” he replied, finding no evidence of her being a Republic agent and becoming all the more confused by her chattiness. “I came here to visit your planet. It’s...pretty nice.”

“Oh, ha ha! I’m not from here, I just work here. And live here. I mean, I guess I’m a resident of Nar Shaddaa, sort of. I was born on Kiros, the planet of beauty!”

“I heard.”

“Really? You heard of it? That’s flattering, it’s not one of the bigger industrial producers, you know. On Kiros, people measure success by aesthetic value, not economic. We measure priorities in an entirely different way.”

“Interesting.”

“I know, right? Life without color is just so dull...our families and communities back on Kiros help every day to be worth living in its own unique way.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s why we encourage each other to be as creative and experimental as possible. If a person just spends all of their time working and working and working all day, then what do they even value? Life should be about happiness, not wealth.”

“Right.”

“That’s why me and my best friends left on an adventure. If we really want to create more, to stay original and fresh, we need that galactic experience to see things a person wouldn’t be able to just spending all their life in a single star system. You know what I mean?”

“Sure.”

She just looked at him for a few seconds, smiling as if she expected him to say more. Or just trying to catch her breath.

Less comfortable than before, she seemed to struggle with her words. “So...yep. That’s how I got here. What about you?”

In no rush to reveal much of his mission, Xuvas did what he did best in conversation and just flipped it back onto the other person. “If you like originality and creativity so much, then why come here of all places?” he asked absentmindedly.

For a good few seconds, she held her cheery expression and nodded at him, much like a person would do when considering a more complicated question. He was about to repeat himself when he noticed a slight tugging at the corner of her mouth, a sort of strain to maintain the smile. Like a fast metamorphosis, he watched as her smile lost that authenticity, that honesty to it, and appeared a little more fake. Her reaction was so believable that he started to think her previous sincerity had been real because, when he saw it drained away, he most certainly noticed the vast difference.

Almost in pain to continue smiling, she spoke with a calm voice regardless. “That’s a funny story, you know. I mean, it must look weird to you, right? Why would an aspiring artist come to a dirty gambling planet?” Her voice didn’t hold a hint of resentment or aggression, but her words contrasted so sharply to how she’d been acting so far that he could feel a wound he’d just pulled the bandages off of.

He turned to actually face her respectfully. “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that, Miss Obonta.”

“It’s okay, mister Xuvas, I know you didn’t mean it that way. You don’t need to mean it that way because that’s just how it is. I mean...it doesn’t make sense. How does a graduate of a traditional academy of song and dance from Kiros come to a floating dumpster, right?”

She folded her arms in front of her tightly as if hugging herself, and he could already sense the waterworks coming. He didn’t know her, and he was wary of being dragged into other people’s problems, but there was something about seeing a cheery kid break down that made him deeply uncomfortable. He rested a hand on the table and watched as she immediately loosened up a little bit. It was like she was reaching out for a sympathetic ear, though he felt she was reaching to him far too quickly. She didn’t know him or if he was some kind of sicko, and he wondered how many times she’s been cheated or betrayed since moving to Nar Shaddaa.

“Listen. This location is a bit rough, I know. That’s easy to see. But everybody needs something to be good at, and if you’ve found the beginning of your career singing in Marko’s bar upstairs, then maybe that’s the due you’ll pay for one day finding a better place to...be...artistic.”

“You don’t understand,” she replied as the first tears fell. “I’m sorry, you’re so nice to listen. I shouldn’t say it like that.”

“I have thick skin, don’t worry.”

“It’s worse than what you think. So much...” She looked away from him and leaned her head into her fist. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to hear this. It doesn’t matter.”

On some level, Xuvas was bothered by her dismissal. For sure she didn’t mean to brush off his sympathy - she’d already made that clear. But the way she seemed convinced that talking to him was a mistake bothered him on a personal level. He was s member of the Sith Sphere of Philosophy, charged with spreading the message of the Empire, and one of the public faces of the entire Sith Order.

He leaned forward, and even with her eyes closed, she leaned forward a little too. She was obviously desperate for help if she was telling her tales of woe to an off-planet stranger; the least he could do was listen.

“Hey. Come on. I noticed that you were looking for someone to talk to when I entered. I don’t know what you’re coming from, or where you’ve been, and maybe that’s the kind of help you need.” She opened one glassy eye to look at him again, embarrassed yet hopeful when he didn’t give up. “Maybe someone removes from the situation could help you.”

She didn’t wait long before unfolding herself and opening up again. “Look, it’s like this. I came here to practice my craft, and now I’m just an object,” she said, crying but not wavering.

“I thought Marko was one of the better Hutts.”

“He is. It didn’t start...” She pursed her lips for a moment and took a deep breath. “I didn’t come here to work for him.”

“So how did you end up here?”

“It’s not just me. It was a group of us. Me and my friends learned at the best academies in Kiros, and we figured we’d go off-world to learn more...nobody we knew had done it before. And my parents hit the roof. We fought, and fought, and they finally gave in...I convinced them to let me go to Hutt Space with my friends.”

“Do your parents know your current whereabouts?”

“No, our village doesn’t have a lot in the way of tech. I didn’t know how to type interstellar messages until I got here. It was a huge risk, and I can’t go back. I can’t face them knowing that all I have to show is what happened.”

“What did happen?”

“Well, we landed here, and we had a hard time finding people who understood what we could do. There are high-class places here with legit musical numbers and interpretive dance, but we didn’t have the money to even get in and talk to their talent scouts. Our choices to pay rent were pole dancing or selling fruit on the freeway, so I sold fruit on the freeway.”

She’d calmed down once she started talking, so he tried to push her a little more.

“That sounds like a typical story for many successful performers in Hutt Space. What went wrong between selling fruit and working for Marko?”

“A lot, mister Xuvas. A lot. I didn’t know I needed a permit to sell fruit, so security droids threw my stand in the garbage. My friends and I got evicted, and we had to split up into youth hostels. I was afraid to be on the street, so I borrowed money to pay for my bed...that was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Wary of what he might hear, Xuvas tried to be delicate. “Are you able to talk...how bad was the mistake?” he asked cautiously.

“Oh...it was stupid. I should have known, should have just spent a while on the street. I’d borrowed money from another one of my species, but he was born and raised here; I made the mistake of dealing with him as if he were also from Kiros, some village boy. But he was Nar Shaddaa to the bone and had no mercy when pleaded for more time to pay, and I walked right into his office like an idiot. I started to get scared and told him ‘you can’t hit girls,’ and he goes ‘you’re right, I’m a gentleman.’ Then he calls in these two Houk ladies that did it instead. They took everything except my clothes, minus my shoes which were expensive, and messed me up bad. I woke up in an emergency room, and they wouldn’t let me out until I paid. That’s when Marko found me.”

“Did he own the hospital?”

At that, Obonta leaned her head back and laughed. She had a soft laugh, like someone without such a burden on her shoulders, and there was a shine to her eyes that seemed impossible.

“No, but he knows the owner. Apparently, some of the cartel guys do checks for desperate people. Marko paid my ER bill and put me in three months of physical therapy.” She laughed again when she saw Xuvas do a double take. “I’m not a street girl; I can’t take beatings. I was really hurt.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. I think Marko was sorry, too. He’s not a bad guy...I’ve witnessed true evil while here, and Marko isn’t it. But he’s still like mafia. He wasn’t helping me for free. It was an arrangement...he supported me and gave me a bunk with his other working girls, but he’s not a refined person. By Hutt standards, he’s from a low class family, so in his mind, business equals sex work, sexy dancing, or gambling. I don’t have the math skills to work in the casino, so I ended up doing what I hate the most.”

Please don’t say the first one, Xuvas thought. “You mean the second one?”

“Yes,” she sighed sadly. “I was trained to tell stories through dance by the best teachers on Kiros. I stood with the most talented, the most learned, on how to express my feelings through my moves, on how to truly connect with other people without even speaking. I spent years just humming to gain control of different parts of my wind pipe so I could command my voice.” Her eyes opened a little like a burned-out headlight struggling to turn on one last time. “I conveyed the emotion that every person feels when they’re happy, sad, excited, lonely, wistful...I sang the words and said so much more with the way I sang them. I know how to touch every person I perform for because I believe in people, and that belief is so importance to performance.”

She wiped her eyes, wearing a pained smile on her face again. “I tried to explain this to Marko...he was good to me, he really was. He tried to listen, he asked a few questions, but it all went over his head, he said. He passed me on to his floor manager to decide, and damned if she wasn’t also a Togruta raised on Nar Shaddaa. She was like that loan shark. I mean, she didn’t hit me with a closed fist, but she kept slapping me even when I kept saying sorry, and shook the shit out of me and said ‘Obonta, I was a stripper when I was your age, if you think you’re too good for us then the door is that way.’ But I’d already promised Marko that I’d stay here even when I paid off my debt. He was relying on me to be here, and I literally don’t have anywhere else to go, especially not back home. Not without anything to show for it.”

She frowned and looked away from him, wiping away more tears. “I’m stuck. Marko will always take care of me but he doesn’t get me, the floor manager thinks I’m a troublemaker, and the other girls think I’m lying about my skills. Nobody is helping me, nobody is even giving me a chance to show them. I offered them art...”

She paused and took a sniffling breath, working hard to contain herself when talking about a series of traumatic experiences. “...they turned it into porn,” she sighed, shaking her head solemnly.

Xuvas shook his head as well, unsure of what to make of all that. He could feel her through the Force, and he could feel that she was telling the truth, but her world was one completely foreign to him. He has no idea what such a person could do, or what she would even really want. All he understood was loving what one did more than the money for doing it. Art was very different from propaganda, but at a very base level, he could understand why she’d feel insulted by the job she’d been given.

He’d paused for too long though. “Well...thank you, mister Xuvas. It was really nice of you to listen.”

“Wait just a minute,” he said before she could start to leave. “I have Marko’s ear. He’ll listen to me.”

“He listens, but he doesn’t hear.”

“He’ll hear it if somebody uses language he understands.” Xuvas remembered of the overpriced clubs his sister went to, and Obonta stopped crying when she noticed how intently he was thinking. “In Kaas City, we have these classy sort of place, for lounge singers. A place like Marko’s nightclub wouldn’t even be interested in them, and that’s the point; they appeal to a different class in society. They tend to do solo performances, usually for very small audiences who pay a ton of money. If they ask for less money, or allow more people in to see, their value goes down.”

“Oh...that sounds really nice, mister Xuvas,” she sniffled, “but that isn’t what Marko does.”

“Because he hasn’t expanded into it yet. The beauty of expansion is that he wouldn’t have to drop his current investments. He could contract your services to that class of clientele, the kind that considers sleazy clubs beneath them, and all you’d have to do is show up with his security. Your type of performer usually travels to the private venue requested so the show can be closed to the general public.”

“I...” She paused and wiped her eyes, keenly interested but overwhelmed. “It’s my turn to say this is going over my head. If I knew about business, I don’t think I would have had all these problems. But...do you really think Marko will listen to you?”

“He owes me a favor, and not a small one. I know a few Imperial officials stationed here who would see a trial performance if I told them to. That could be your tryout - your chance to show them what you can do, on your terms.”

Despite the tears in her eyes, Obonta looked legitimately happy. Her smile wasn’t as wide as it had been when Xuvas had first walked onto the balcony, but that sincere shine had returned to it.

“A tryout is all I ever wanted,” she said, chuckling to herself in disbelief. “If I try and fail, and they don’t like it, I’d still be happier than I am now. I just wanted a chance.”

Despite his seriousness, despite the harshness of the life lived by members of the Sith Order, Xuvas had to admit that seeing the kid smile with those tears in her eyes felt nice. “In the Empire, many of us believe that everybody deserves a chance. Not everybody is treated fairly to start with, but everybody gets a chance to prove they can add value to the galaxy,” he said, surprised to find that he was smiling too.

She laughed and looked at him for a moment with an innocence that seemed impossible given what she’d been through. “You guys aren’t as bad as the Republic people say,” she chuckled.

“Give is a chance. You’ll find a lot of us can respect talent and hard work, whether it be military strategy or artistic expression.” He stood up and offered her his hand, and she jumped up quickly to reciprocate. “It’s nice to meet you. I hope we’ll bump into each other again, but I need to see Marko now. I remember him saying he has a meeting tonight, so I need to catch him first.”

“Nice to meet you too, mister! It really means so much that you’ll talk to him, even if he doesn’t hear you. Hey, I don’t work here at the restaurant, but I can get you and your crew VIP seating for dinner. I’ll tell the host to wait for you.”

He didn’t really like the food, but he saw no reason to reject her favor. “I think I’ll have to take you up on that. Stay safe, now, okay?”

She gave him an odd bow he assumed must be normal on Kiros because he hadn’t seen other Togruta do it. “I’ll try,” she said while skipping away. “Thanks again!”

He watched her leave and waited for a little while longer, trying to clear his mind. He was happy to help the poor kid, but he was slowly realizing that her promised to negotiate a business deal with Marko the Hutt. He’d probably need more coffee, and maybe even to break his alcohol-free rule, by the time he was done.


	5. Not So Ulterior Motives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when he thinks he can get some rest, duty calls again.
> 
> Lime alert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Star Wars.

Xuvas threw his cowl over his shoulder as he briskly exited the office of Marko the Hutt. Following three hours of insincere small talk, then arguing, then negotiating, then arguing again, and finally frank discussion, he’d just about had enough of the cartel and its business model for a day. Knowing that he’d leave the next afternoon, he wanted nothing more than to simply relax far away from anybody tied to all of Hutt Space.

Walking circuitously down hallways elevators, he took a longer way back toward his hotel room, avoiding any more conversations. He’d prevailed in persuading the Hutt to grant the Togruta Obonta’s requests for a demonstration for cartel and Imperial officials with their spouses, but at the cost of his patience. He simply wasn’t in the mood for any more talking...

...wait. He was being followed.

Stopping in an empty, narrow hallway not far from his own room, he felt the entire area around him. There were people in their own rooms, as well as a few droids, and what felt like a slave laborer further away. All presences he could feel seemed ordinary, save for one that was still moving toward him. It was someone latently Force sensitive, though not greatly so...and someone who thought they were hidden from him.

Realizing who it was, Xuvas pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. “Ujoxia, what do you want?” he asked tersely.

He felt her irritation upon being revealed, but she continued to approach until he could see her. Unlike the more conniving friends of his sister, Ujoxia didn’t conceal her ire behind a veil of insincerity; her disdain for all outside her circle of friends was on display for the world. The resentful frown on her bright purple lips was the first thing he noticed when she turned a corner to face him.

Donning the flowing robe of a Sith Lord - which she didn’t deserve and hadn’t truly earned - she had the look of a preppy trust fund kid on vacation. The description was apt considering the fact that she was a do-nothing nepotism hire he’d been forced to take along with him, and the brand name sunglasses she wore alongside her Sith garb (sunglasses indoors, he noted) just screamed ‘attention whore.’

Those bright, almost neon purple lips opened with a subconscious pucker that made everything she said sound vacuous. “I could just as well ask you the same, Xuvas,” she replied with an obnoxious tone while chewing on gum. “Why are you stalking the halls near my room?”

His ire had been earned in just two seconds, and he thought of ways he could legally have her expelled from his crew without breaking prior agreements. “Trust me, the last thing I’m interested in is where you’re staying.” He tried to walk past her, but she had the audacity to step in front of him, testing his patience again.

“Move, please.”

“I know better than to trust you, my lord,” she said sarcastically, refusing to budge.

“Your lord orders you to move.”

She at least had the decency to step aside when ordered, but she walked backwards with a perfect gait to continue bothering him. “It’s painfully obvious that you were hanging out near my room, so you may as well just tell me what it is you’re looking for.” The way she irreverently flopped her silky purple hair back annoyed him even more, and he wondered how long she’d spent perfecting the art of being a pest.

“I’m taking the long way back to my room because-“ He stopped himself when he realized that he was answering to someone under his command.

She must have realized it too; before he could finish, she’d stood in his way again. “Vine cat got your tongue, creeper?” she asked, clearly relishing the attention.

He finally turned up the bass in his voice, causing her to jerk backward. “Ujoxia. You aren’t ever to ask questions to your commanding officer.”

Her smirk was defiant, though she did look down deferently. “You’re so sensitive, Lord Hadru,” she said, taunting him with his birth name.

He stopped walking, in disbelief that she’d actually violated protocol like that. When he didn’t hide his shock, she smiled coyly as if realizing she’d crossed a line. “I wasn’t trying to get under your skin, Siqsanjat’s brother,” she cooed.

The way she pinched his thick forearm seemed like a sincere attempt to be cute, perhaps apologize without saying it, but it wasn’t like her at all. Of all of his sister’s friends, Ujoxia was usually the easiest to read. She was less dishonest and traitorous, but more open about her loathing for all other living beings. Her attempt to get his attention after having always ignored him was highly suspect.

“What is your problem, huh? My sister pushed so hard to get you a spot on my crew so you can sit around doing nothing. Why are you so petty if you already got what you want?”

Her jaw dropped open at the notion of someone criticizing her. “I’m not petty!” she said while tugging at the sleeve of his cloak.

“You are *so* petty. Even if you pulled rank to skip the academy on Korriban-“

“I didn’t pull rank, I received an exemption to contribute to society!”

“Yes, Ujoxia, modeling overpriced clothes is a great service,” he replied with a bit of sarcasm of his own.

“No, I will not allow you to talk to me like this!”

“As I was saying, even if you never properly studied, you know Imperial protocol. There’s a measure of decorum required when interacting with a higher ranking member of the Order.”

“How dare you question my manners!”

“I’m not simply questioning them Ujoxia, I’m pretty directly telling you that they’re poor and in violation of protocol on interaction with commanding officers...why am I even being gentle on this?”

“Oh! Oh, that’s rich!” she tried to fake laugh, though she was too upset to pull it off. “You, gentle? You actually dirty your big hands with frontline combat, you plebian. Nothing is gentle about you.”

“I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just disrespect everything we do in the Sith Order and go back to my room. I suggest you do the same and stop begging for attention.”

“What!”

She tried to grab him by the wrist, not ceasing even when he pulled his arms back. “Ujoxia, are you really going to let this degenerate into some low-class public argument that you’re going to lose anyway?” he asked her in a hushed voice.

Despite being built for nothing more taxing than walking down a fashion runway, she actually tried to reach around his back and grab his wrists. “You have no manners, you little brat!” she said.

“Brat?”

“Yes, you’re the same little brat who filled my socks with toothpaste!”

“What the...that was seventeen years ago-“

“See! See! You even remember the exact year because you still think about it!”

“Ujoxia, that’s enough. We’re not kids anymore, and we can’t bicker like this.”

“Don’t tell me that you didn’t creep around my room just so you could push my buttons,” she said, enunciating every word and tilting her chin up at him as if to antagonize him.

“You’re insane.”

“You’re just trying to grind my gears.”

“You’re absolutely insane.”

“That’s why you keep teasing me, repeating my name like that!”

For a second he opened his mouth to answer, but then he stopped when he realized he had no idea how to react. Her whole demeanor was akin to that of a housecat begging to be fed, pressing against him so closely that he couldn’t help but notice. There was a determination in her big eyes, in the way she kept holding his wrist so tightly with her dainty hands, that assaulted him with deja vu considering his unexpected tryst with the other pureblood woman on his crew just the night prior.

He pulled his wrist away, inadvertently pulling her lithe body flush against him when she wouldn’t let go. She kept tilting her chin up at him in a mock challenge, and he wondered why women who were attracted to him also tried to drive him crazy.

“Ujo-“ He was about to remind her of behavioral protocols before stopping himself, realizing he was using her name a lot. She raised her brow ridges as if surprised by his silence, waiting for his response as if hoping for him to continue the argument. “Hold still.”

“First you tell me to move, now you tell me to hold still? What’s with the hot and cold act?”

She froze when he leaned down so close that his nose almost touched her fine hair. He could feel her tilting her head to the side, but he was more interested in her odor. She was wearing a sweet perfume so intoxicating that it ought to be illegal, and he fought the more base aspects of his nature to keep his focus elsewhere. He was interested in a different smell.

When he pulled away from her, she angrily snorted at him through her nose. She’d apparently been expecting something else.

“You’ve been drinking,” he told her quietly.

Angered disappointment spread across her face, and she shook her head furiously. “Don’t change the subject, loser! You can’t hide what you’re trying to do to me!”

“Hey!” he said harshly enough for her to jump, not speaking loudly so much as forcefully. “Don’t make accusations. Don’t cross that line.”

Unfortunately, his assertiveness only encouraged her. “So you really buy into this whole boss thing, do you?” she asked in a low purr, too much of a shrew to smile but sort of sneering at him.

“Alright, come with me.” He took her by the wrist, embarrassed at how low their interaction had sunk. “You meditate today and pray that I don’t talk about this to the higher ups.”

Instead of trying to escape, she grabbed him back and pulled at his cowl as he led her. “Where are you taking me to, Hadru?” she asked. He couldn’t even tell if her rage was real anymore.

“To your room, you lush. And don’t say a Sith lord’s birth name where others might hear it.”

“I knew it, you freak! You were planning this all along when you brought me!” she said before pulling his cowl entirely off of his shoulders.

“What is wrong you?” he replied while snatching it back from her. She tried to steal it back from him a few times on the way to her room, pressing herself against him to the point where he realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath her robes. “Ujoxia, this is unprofessional.”

She grabbed his robe and moved so close that he could feel the heat of her breath on his chin. “We’re beyond professional now, Hadru.”

Unable to open the door to her room without her, he took her hand in his and pressed her fingers to the lock to open it the old fashioned way.

“I don’t even know what that means,” he sighed while trying to push her inside her room so he could leave.

She wouldn’t let go of him, however. “I only had a few drinks, by the way. I hold my liquor well, you freaking lightweight.”

“I stand corrected. Have a nice day.”

“I’m not drunk. When I get drunk, I can’t even walk straight.”

“Goodbye, Ujoxia.”

As frustrated as he was, she finally took her sunglasses off, revealing those piercing predatory eyes that didn’t look inebriated. “You strike my nerves like no one else, you stubborn cur,” she said a little more quietly as she stared up at him.

He could tell she was perturbed, and her bizarre behavior notwithstanding, he still felt a burdensome obligation to be sure that his crew members were in good condition, physically and mentally. Despite his better judgment, he didn’t turn tail and run as soon as she was in her room.

“Struck nerves, I can deal with. What I need from you is to stay in your hotel room, don’t answer the door for anyone until we leave tomorrow, and try not to get in trouble.”

Those big eyes, as bright a yellow as his, shot open devilishly. “Okay!”

Ujoxia was barely even Force sensitive; as a child, she’d only narrowly avoided being sold into slavery due to that fact, her family’s wealth being her only saving grace. It was that weakness in the Force that caught him off guard. When she Force pulled him inside the hotel room with her, he hadn’t expected it and didn’t have time to react.

He stumbled, unsure of what was happening at first, and nearly tripped in order to avoid knocking her over. Seizing the opportunity, she Force pushed the door closed and pretended to fall onto him.

“Oh, goodness me!” she said while cornering him against the wall in her room’s main hallway. “How did that happen?”

She squeezed his biceps and grinned at him triumphantly, as if getting him inside the door was a conquest in and of itself.

“Ujoxia-“

“There you go saying my name again,” she purred at him. The high bridge of her nose lightly dragged against his jawline as she reveled in what she seemed to think was some sort of victory. “You said you need to stay in my hotel room.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

He tried to put distance between them, but she had a way to prevent him that he couldn’t quite understand. She wasn’t even strong enough to carry her own bags of groceries, yet she could keep him against that wall. Every attempt to push her off of him made her sink into him more. Her deadweight tactic pinned him, and even when she started to pull his robe open, his attempt to stop her just led to more direct contact with her smooth skin.

“You’re the master of hard to get,” she whispered despite them being alone. She nuzzled his chin with her nose, completely contrasting with the avaricious, mean-spirited, painfully blunt woman he’d known before. “All you do is make me want it more.”

“Ujoxia,” he said, causing her to purr deep in her throat. “You have alcohol in your system. This isn’t right.”

She opened her mouth, letting her pearly teeth dance across the skin of his jaw. “You don’t drink, so you lack the experience to know that; you just know what I want right now. And you’re a man; that hardon underneath your pants counts as your consent.”

“That wouldn’t stand up in a court of law,” he replied, garnering an amused chuckle from her. He backed away when he realized that he actually did have an erection, previously unbeknownst to him, and she pushed him further into her hotel room. “This doesn’t feel right.”

Continuing to melt into him, she proved that she actually was winning whatever contest she’d decided to put him in when he found them moved back into her bedroom. “What, did you actually find somebody who’d want to be with you for more than one night?” she asked, more curious than mocking.

“I...”

He paused. Less than a day ago, he’d been with another woman. Not just another woman, but the only other single pureblood woman on his crew. What Ujoxia was suggesting felt weird, and not just because he’d known her for a long time and didn’t really like her personally. It was weird because she and Hyala shared the same room on his ship.

It was weird...but was it wrong?

Hyala had made it clear that she didn’t want a relationship. They weren’t together. She wasn’t his girlfriend and didn’t want to be. He’d given her what she’d wanted and they were done; he didn’t have a life partner to cheat on.

Cautiously, he responded. “No, I haven’t.”

Standing on her toes snd turning her face so he could kiss her cheek, she grinned and hummed. “That’s what I thought. In fact, I had a drink specifically so I could tolerate your personality long enough to do something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

Such a declaration would have offended him from Hyala, but Ujoxia wasn’t hateful; she was merely blunt to a fault, and any offense she caused others was incidental, not intentional. He could respond to her ignorant insult to him with a witty comment...but at that moment, he wanted something he normally wouldn’t have wanted from her at all.

Reaching around and cupping her ass, he lifted her up and pulled her flush against him again. She responded in kind, wrapping her legs around him so tightly that he almost couldn’t breathe. She yanked his robe clean off as he carried her to her bed and fisted her hands in his hair, with just enough force to hold him to her while he took her earlobe between his teeth.

“Bite it, freak,” she growled at him in a low voice while pulling in his hair enough for it to hurt.

With enough pressure that he worried he’d bite it off, he punished her ear, causing her to grind her hips against his. When he lost his grip on the soft flesh, she planted her legs on the floor and tripped him until he fell back onto the high-thread count quilt of her bed. She came at him like an animal, slipping her tongue into his mouth and deftly pulling his pants down at the same time; he even heard the fabric tear during her almost desperate drive to take him. Tenderness was cast aside as they ripped the rest of the clothes off of each other, competing to see who could cause the most pleasure and pain along the way.

“I’m going to squeeze it all out of you,” she breathed into his ear before nipping at it. Her line was kind of weird, but he ignored it as she jockeyed for dominance and he fought right back with a hickey below her collar bone. “Fill me with your dark side explosion.”

Worried that his mood would wane at her terrible attempt to talk dirty, he bit her lip and pulled her down to him. To no avail, he tried to shut her up by claiming her mouth, but she wouldn’t shut up.

“Oh yeah, you’re going to flood my ovaries, you nasty boy!”

He put his hand around her neck, visibly getting another rise out of her. Such play was too rough for his taste, but he really wanted her to stop talking right at that moment and start moaning. The frustration she caused him was unceasing, however.

“I’m going to extract your chromosomes-“

“Okay, stop, stop. Stop talking right now.”

“Come on baby, I just need your man juice in my-“

“Shush!”

“Shush yourself you big prude, now suck my kiss!”

As frustrated as him, she ground herself against him, rabid and ready for action, but reacting angrily to any challenge to her top position. That anger fueled her desires, and she grabbed his hand and forced him to run his fingers down her crack while groaning and growling on top of him. His mood had been damped, though.

“Cut this weird talk about-“ His sentence was cut off when she tried to smother him with her free hand, but he was perturbed by her words even as his manhood arced and begged to stretch out her insides. “Ujoxia, stop talking about my DNA, that’s not happening.”

Ever the dictator, she tried to pin his other fist to the bed and bared her teeth at him. As sexy as it was, he couldn’t help but notice the misplaced determination in her eye. “Fuck you, I didn’t come out here only to go home without taking what I need. Now give me your guys!”

“My...guys? Okay, I’m done, we’re done.” He pulled his finger out of her ass and tried to push her off of him. “Thanks for ruining it with your weird fantasies.”

Anger changed to panic when she realized that trying to push him down was like trying to push over a tree for her, and she cupped his face and kissed him so he wouldn’t leave. “Wait, wait, let me explain you fool.” Held at bay, he paused as she spoke. “I’m not trapping you into anything - I don’t even like you personally.”

“Thank you, Ujoxia. That does wonders for my self esteem.”

Sincere confusion mixed with the arousal in her face reminded him that she wasn’t spiteful so much as ignorant and uncaring. “Listen! I’m not asking you for anything except fulfillment of your duty.”

He paused, staring at her as his sense of deja vu returned. “Oh no...”

“I read that article you published.”

He collapsed against the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That was a research journal, not a personals ad!” he sighed.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, still confused. When he noticed that she had no idea what he was talking about, he wondered if she and Hyala had actually planned the bizarre weekend together - which made it even weirder - or if, by chance, the two vacuous, arrogant bourgeois noblewomen had simply stumbled upon the same idea.

“How did you find out about my article?” he asked cautiously.

Running her fingers down his scalp the way he liked it, she coaxed him to relax and stay beneath her. “Look, I don’t read that nerd shit that you write...usually. But people passed around the summary on messenger and were all sensationalistic and stuff, about our pure bloodlines ending, and it got me thinking...”

No...they hadn’t colluded. Ujoxia was clueless and too terse to successfully lie. “That you’d repopulate the Kaas System by carrying the child of a pureblood who you never have to see socially.”

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess.” He closed his eyes for a moment and held her still in top of him, eliciting an angry squeal when he wouldn’t let her grind on him. “And just how will you take care of a child when you are one?”

“I’m older than you, stupid. And we don’t raise kids, I have droids and nannies for that like we did when we were young. A lot more than you could afford on a warrior’s salary.”

Her terseness allayed fears of abandonement of a child, the fact that she was stable assured him that, yet again, his progeny would be cared for, and his body screamed at him to pull her down into his member. The feeling that he was being used as a sort of stud horse was so surreal that he couldn’t focus, though.

“Fine, but not now. I’m not in the mood.”

She growled at him and pinned both of his wrists to the bed. “Arrrgh! You! You have a huge freaking boner that isn’t going down any time soon, what the hell do you mean you’re not in the mood?”

“You creeped me out. It’s just weird.”

Her expression went from stern to devious in a matter of seconds. “Okay, dickmeister, I can fix that. Tell me the deepest darkest thing you dream about, and I’ll tell you mine. By the time we do that, I guarantee that you’ll be in the mood.” When he hesitated, she leaned down and breathed into his ear again, purring and clawing at him just like how she’d woken up that side of him earlier. “Come on. Anything. Just for you...as long as you don’t tell a soul what I ask for.”

His heart throbbed, and he couldn’t deny that her weird, dark, almost mysterious promises turned him on. “Well...I’ve always fantasized about letting a woman bite my neck...lightly...but I was too shy to ask my exes.”

For a few seconds, she just stared at him. The silence almost made him sweat, and he wondered if he’d gone too far. When she started to laugh, his embarrassment didn’t decrease, and she would have killed his mood were her womanhood not sliding on his hip.

“Ahah Ahah! Hahahaha, haha! Ha!”

“What?!”

Puckering her lips up in a silly way, she pinched his cheeks as if her were a child. “Cutey cutey, I forgot how inexperienced you are!” she said in a cartoon character voice.

“Hey, I’m not inexperienced! I’ve been with almost enough women to count on all my fingers, on one hand.” When she continued laughing, he felt his anger, his passion rise, and his manhood poked against her nether regions as he felt the desire to punish her. “Well, What is it that you think is so exotic and sticky and secret, Ujoxia?”

She dug her nails into the meat of his pectorals and bent down near his ear. “When you say my name.” She rose up, a glint of lust in her eyes. “Also, lick my asshole.”

Although the former monk had no idea what that was, the sound of it was so forbidden, so tempting, that she stunned him into silence. He watched as she turned the other way and sat on him, beginning the wildest night of his life.


	6. ...Stays on Nar Shaddaa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendship fluff, lime references, and awkward moments mark our villains’ departure from one weird weekend of scandalous hijinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Star Wars.

After a whirlwind of a weekend, the Sith and the Hutt stopped just before the landing pad at the modest spaceport. Far from the more populated regions of Nar Shaddaa, the local spaceport used outdoor pads instead of indoor hangars, and the Fury-class interceptor parked and waiting would likely need to be treated for acid rain once the group was off of the heavily polluted planet.

Still, their objective had been achieved; the Sphere of Philosophy’s mission was accomplished. Marko the Hutt stopped his hover chair at the final security barrier before the launching pad and rotated to face Darth Xuvas. “The Republic never responds to my requests, not on this hemisphere. But now that you’ve removed my biggest rival, I won’t need their help; the entire Eastern Hemisphere of my planet is my playground. I’m now the big frog in the small pond.”

“I was honestly glad to help. The Empire is a dependable ally to those considered equals. Just as we value the organization and efficiency of the Chiss, I can see the semblance of organization and hierarchy in your operation here. Perhaps we can work together again in the future.”

“We’ll keep the channels of communication open.” One of Marko’s Gamorran flunkies approached and whispered into his ear, easily pulling the busy mafia don’s attention away. “It was nice working with you, Sith. I just received word that two rival organizations ended a shootout when one of my enforcers showed up...they’re already scared. I must leave swiftly and coerce their leaders into negotiations while their fear is fresh.”

“I like the way you think, Marko,” Xuvas said with relish. “Farewell and good luck.”

The Hutt and his entourage took their leave, hurrying out to their shuttle like a pack of jackals. Xuvas still didn’t entirely trust the Hutt, but at least he knew that he’d demonstrated what he and other Sith could do if they were crossed.

With nothing else to do on the planet, Xuvas moved to his ship and waited for his crew to arrive. One by one, they returned from their trip, in various states of preparation after whatever it was they’d been doing. Sobriety was of utmost importance to him, both for himself and his crew, but he tried not to think about it since they’d been out of Imperial Space. Greeting them one by one, he made sure they’d brought back everything they’d entered the planet with, leaving nothing unchecked.

Only when they’d all boarded did he notice the multi-colored character who’d snuck onto the launch pad behind his crew.

“Tad aaa!” Obonta cheered while popping up in front of him. She was dressed quite differently than she’d been before - instead of a peasant’s clothing, she was wearing a more respectable dress, and her outfit actually matched.

“Hello, Obonta, nice to see you again,” he said as she did that weird bow again. “Marko told me that your tryout already took place this morning; I’m sorry that I missed it.”

Her bliss didn’t subside for even one second. “It’s okay, mister Xuvas. Maybe you’ll have another chance one day because guess what? They all loved it!”

“I didn’t doubt the they would. I called half a dozen local Imperial officials during my meeting with Marko. He said two dozen showed up. Is that right?”

“Yeah, it really was like that!” she exclaimed. “The officers brought their families. A few people didn’t get it, but most of them clapped. And oh! Guess what, you can’t guess!”

“If I can’t-“

“The daughter of the local Imperial Army major is having her her sixteenth birthday party at their compound for local staff. She begged her dad to invite me so sing for her, and he called Marko to confirm an hour ago. She knows everybody in your faction on this planet!”

“That’s wonderful, I’m glad that you’re receiving recognition for what you can do.”

She smiled at him again, not in pain, but with a similar strain to what he’d seen in her the previous morning when they’d met. She wasn’t going to cry, but he could sense her getting a bit weepy in terms of mood.

“It’s been really hard, mister Xuvas. There were nights when I’d sit up alone and think about giving up. But I wished on every star in the sky for a chance to prove myself to come. You got me that chance.” She paused for a moment, and though he worried she might actually cry again, she just kept on smiling. “Well...I hope that you don’t wait too long before coming to Hutt Space again. The next time you’re here, I may already have grown more as an artist.”

“I think it’s guaranteed. You’ve already done a lot of living for someone your age. Those life experiences are what build us.”

She grinned, flashing the shiny silver canine teeth she’d gained after her ER stay the previous year, not at all looking like the desperate nightclub worker he’d met yesterday. He felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside when she grinned, sort of like how he felt when he killed Jedi, except this didn’t involve as much effort. Just doing something nice for an aspiring singer-dancer had completely turned her mood around.

Then, she did the last thing he’d expect. Before he could say anything, she tiptoed up to him and threw her arms around his neck. Though there was no fear of her having been an SIS spy the whole time, he found his hand automatically moving down to protect his pockets until he realized that she was hugging him. He felt odd and uncomfortable at first, not used to such displays at any point in his life. And then he felt shocked at his own cruel presumptions.

Here was a teenager, almost a kid, who knew no other way to show appreciation. She’d come from a small village in a backwater with stars in her eyes and got shot down, hard, by the grim reality of urban areas. There was an adult from outside that reality who’d shown her a bit of kindness by choice. For all he knew, he was the only male person who’d ever helped her without expecting more than a smile in return, and yet he was covering his pockets as if she were some thief off the street. He felt awful about his own reaction to her.

Thankfully, she hadn’t noticed his action, and he mentally scolded himself for treating her as he would one of those frauds or timeshare sellers down in the streets. He hugged her back, getting a little laugh out of her at how much smaller she was.

She twirled away with what he assumed was a ballet move from her planet, even more bubbly than she’d been yesterday. “So long, mister Xuvas. And thanks again!”

“You’re welcome, Obonta. Do your best out there.”

She waved at him in a goofy manner and then literally skipped away and flailed her arms out at her sides. He watched her leave, wondering if he’d ever been so effervescent even in early childhood. He couldn’t remember a time, and despite his success in what he did, he almost felt envious for having never lived in such a simple, honestly happy time.

Once she disappeared back into the spaceport, Xuvas continued waiting, checking his timepiece just to be sure he was counting correctly. There were two more members of his crew missing, and they were the two he’d have the most awkward silence with.

Not long after the Togruta had left, the first of his two fellow purebloods arrived. Hyala rode a droid taxi all the way to the launch pad, tossing her bags to Xuvas’ own ship droid and refusing to perform any work on her own. Her usual predatory air had returned, erasing all of the tenderness he’d seen in her two nights ago. The woman gave off the message that she was looking for someone to throw under a bus, and at least for people who knew her such as him, there was a threatening nature to any questions she might ask. She was making it clear that what had occurred between them didn’t change a thing.

“You certainly look thoughtful,” she commented once she reached his position outside the Fury’s airlock. “Find anything you like here?”

Any answer he gave her would invariably be used to blackmail or threaten him in the future, knowing Hyala’s conniving and vindictive personality. The flip side to dealing with such a person was that showing awareness of their sneakiness allowed them to strategize better, so Xuvas played dumb and pretended to give an honest answer.

“Not really, no.” He looked past her at the spaceport just to make sure that the kid had really gone. “Do you really think I’d be a poor father?” he asked back without thinking.

Another unexpected event occurred. Hyala was cunning, dangerous, and had little reason to be wary of others given her connections. She’d never regarded him as a being of any worth before, except for the twelve hour period when she’d used him to fulfill a need, and he couldn’t relate to her in any other way.

But things had changed. She was carrying his child now, and even if they’d never see each other socially, there would be a connection, however latent. And Hyala, the venomous plotter who ruined reputations and lives at will, burned into the Force with fear. She took a step away from him, holding still as if camouflaged, and the usual viciousness in her eyes changed into defensive apprehension. She had nowhere else to go since he was her commanding officer, but she also realized that, for the first time in her life, another person had leverage over her.

“Xuvas...you promised,” she said, feigning anger but reeking of fear. “You promised me that you’ll respect my independence. You promised me that you’ll let me raise my children on my own. You promised me that you’ll let me be. You gave me your word.”

“Calm down, alright, don’t get so jumpy. I didn’t mean anything by it.” She looked up at him silently, her face a mess of emotions - some hate, some suspicion, and a while lot of fear that she’d bitten off more than she could chew. Too much of a bully to know how to plead, she just stared at him in disbelief, obviously hoping for a miracle. “Look, Hyala, I’m only asking for me. You made a comment, and I’m still thinking about it. But I have no reason to give up my career on the battlefield and get tangled up in family drama. Especially with you.”

“Your mercy knows no bounds,” she forced out of those luscious lips despite her anger at essentially being forced to say it. “Just...promise that you’re not going to show up and take this from me. Then I’ll answer you.”

“I do...like I said, my career would be damaged. Now answer.”

Still defensive, she tried to hide her true feelings. She failed, and he could tell that she was holding back. “You’d be a poor father because you want to stay on the battlefield. When you die in a war, I’ll tell my kids good stories abiut you to inspire them. But don’t thrust the burden of *you* on them. Just know that I’ll care for them and live your life.”

Her words didn’t hurt him much because he believed she was wrong. Either way, he wouldn’t know - he had no reason to double cross her, especially if she behaved. And behaving would keep him out of her life. The situation was ideal. Waving his hand for her to come, he ushered her up the ship’s ramp, and she complied, albeit with super defensive body language.

“I’ll be submitting my resignation documents once we’re in transit, by the way,” she told him while stopping on the ramp. “Officially, I’ll be taking a leave of absence from the Sith Order for personal reasons.”

“Understood. Have a nice life.”

He started to turn away when he noticed that she was still standing there. She didn’t lower herself to clearing her throat, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of waiting on her anymore, and she started speaking in frustration.

“You didn’t comment on me saying ‘children’ as in plural,” she said. Her evil smile returned when he turned around, as if she’d won again. “That’s what I thought. Anyway, I should be good to go...physically...in a year and nine months. You’d better be ready to perform again.”

She walked further up the ramp before he could answer. “We have to do our duty for the species...” she said as she entered.

Xuvas wondered how his life had become so...weird, in only a few days’ time. The whole deal they’d worked out hadn’t fully dawned on him yet, and he wondered if he’d dreamed any of it. Or if Hyala had spiked the drinks she’d been making in his hotel room and he just imagined most of it.

His rumination was interrupted by the arrival of a more ostentatious variety. Serpent-like cunning and an air of vengeance were cast aside when the other pureblood woman, the crew’s self-proclaimed princess, showed up. Instead of having droids carry her bags, Ujoxia had paid two Rodians wearing slave collars to drop her things off at the ship. She catwalked all the way from the spaceport to the launch paid, taking her time as she kept flipping her robes around so they’d waft dramatically in the wind behind her. As if she couldn’t get any more pompous, she was still wearing sunglasses despite the planet’s skies looking like mud.

The moment she opened her mouth and curled her lips away lasciviously as if she were about to ask him for 69 again, he knew she was going to say something inappropriate.

“What up, sperm bank?” she asked without a hint of humor in her voice.

“Damnit, don’t talk like that where there could be spies!”

She pulled away from him melodramatically. “Calm down you proletarian! What’s your problem?”

“There are rules of interaction and you know that.”

“Don’t worry, Darth Hadru. Once we’re off this planet’s surface, I don’t know you anymore. Deal?” He tried to answer, but she cut him off. “Deal. Now, selfie time before we go.”

She put her arm around him and made a duck face without even asking him. “I thought this was a one-time only thing?” he asked as she pulled out her floating camera droid.

“Yeah, because taking a selfie with you totally means I want you to be my boyfriend, you sad, lonely creeper. Shut up and strike a pose.”

He almost growled at her, but that would only make her feel validated. “Fine,” he grumbled and let her take the picture.

She leaned her head on his shoulder tenderly while looking at the 3-D image with him. “Good, this will go great with that holo of us having sex with each other-“

“By the Force, you’d better be kidding!” he finally growled. She was scared but also thrilled, and his anger only encouraged her.

“Don’t touch me, psycho! I need some sort of guarantee that you won’t try to walk back in my life before I need you again.”

“Ujoxia, I’m not joking. The people I work with in the Sphere of Philosophy are very conservative people! This would cause a huge scandal!”

Shaming a person without shame backfired, and she proceeded to describe the acts they’d committed in minute details that would make a Hutta backstreet pimp embarrassed. “I know, especially the part where you pulled my legs off the ground and had me bent over the edge of the couch-“

She quickly sent her camera droid into the ship when he took her by the narrow wrist again, and a high-pitched, nasal squeal emitted from her closed mouth. “You have no manners!” she said without a hint of irony.

“I swear, this had better not see the light of day...how did you even manage that?”

“It wasn’t me, my camera droid took it, and I just found it this morning after you snuck out. But hey, if it keeps you honest until I need you for further conjugal duties, why not keep it?”

Her nostrils flared as she looked up at him; in this case, she’d come out the winner, and he didn’t want to float her ego any more. “Whatever, just get on the ship so things can go back to normal again.”

“Oh, come on now, you enjoyed every minute.” Finally spitting her gum out and thus lessening his irritation, she pushed past him and walked up the ramp, freeing him from her presence. He assumed the ordeal was over and had taken to looking at the city skyline one last time when her voice, suddenly softer and more subdued, reached him. “And hey...Hadru...” she said, using his birth name.

He turned around and found her at the top of the ramp, looking down at him. Taking off her sunglasses, the usual petulant, spoiled look in her eyes whenever she stared down her nose at him had disappeared. She was only latently Force sensitive, and had no means of defense if he wished to probe her for honesty. Despite all the airheaded crap he’d seen her pull, despite the shallow callousness he knew she possessed, there was something different at that moment.

Ujoxia just looked down at him for a moment, her mouth fixed into a wide yet demure smile. She wasn’t one to conceal her feelings, unlike Hyala; Ujoxia wore her heart on her sleeve, and that heart was one of a brat who’d never grown up. So when she got a wistful expression as she looked down at him, he felt as if the woman he’d known had changed somehow. Away from the bright lights of Kaas City, away from the champagne tasting parties she wasted her time at, away from all the fashion designers she’d alienated with her diva behavior, she almost seemed like a different person.

Maybe she had changed. Maybe she had a part of her normally buried that she could let out given the right time and place. Maybe there was a different side to her he simply hasn’t seen. Or maybe, just maybe, she’d taken a moment to finally be sincere and open about herself.

Or maybe she was just the same airhead who couldn’t think beyond sense perception.

“Thanks for eating my butt. That felt fucking incredible.”

Xuvas’ face blushed purple, from his cheeks to his ears, and he was shocked into silence. The sincerity never left her smile, and she even held his gaze for a moment, making him realize that for her, that was the extent of her thinking.

“I...uh...um...you’re welcome,” he mumbled to her nervously.

She pointed her finger at him and did the thumb trigger thing before turning and boarding like everyone else. “I’ll have resignation papers ready when we get home, by the way,” she said sincerely yet unceremoniously as she left him on his own.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked out over the urban landscape one last time. Perhaps he’d right a book, one day, about the weirdness of his life. But for now, he had work to do, and all on one ship with two women he’d slept with, all of them pretending it never happened.

“What happens on Nar Shaddaa stays on Nar Shaddaa,” he sighed as he boarded to leave.


End file.
